Napkin Math

In this episode, we break down how James Dyson, one of the world’s most iconic inventors and entrepreneurs, turned Dyson into a multi-billion-dollar company by questioning everyday products, embracing thousands of failed prototypes, and staying relentlessly obsessed with great engineering. Timestamps 00:00 Introduction: James Dyson's startup story 03:20 From art school to entrepreneur  08:30 Reinv...

Elston Baretto, founder of Tiiny Host, joins us to break down how he grew his drag-and-drop file hosting platform to 2M+ users with zero market research. We cover the SEO and PLG tactics that got him to $100K, the freemium/trial tweaks that pushed him past $1M, how AI tools like Claude Code reshaped his engineering workflow — and the wild side of running a hosting company, from phishing takedowns...

From building one of the first browser-based video editors to facing an existential threat from AI, Sabba breaks down the hard decisions, failed experiments, and strategic pivots that transformed VEED from a traditional SaaS company into a fast-growing AI platform. Timestamps: 00:00 Reinventing VEED for the AI Era 02:08 AI Changed Video Creation Forever 03:32 Why Listening to Customers Can Be Dang...

Three concrete ways to build a million-dollar business on the back of the vibe coding boom. Specialized AI coding tools, security, and education with live napkin math, real company examples, and keyword research throughout. Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro & The Vibe Coding Opportunity 00:03:27 - Way #1: Build a "Lovable for X" (Specialized Vibe Coding Tools) 00:26:19 - Way #2: Vibe Coding Securit...

Maria Martinez, co-founder of Tally — a bootstrapped form builder that hit over $5M ARR since 2020 — joins Sabba and Charlie to break down how she and her husband Philip built a profitable SaaS business in a fiercely competitive market. From a failed hotel marketplace idea (killed by Covid in Bangkok) to launching a Notion-inspired form builder and growing it entirely through product-led growth, M...

A practical breakdown of churn: what it is, why it varies by market, how to tell good churn from bad churn, and the product, marketing, pricing, and activation moves that reduce it. The episode focuses on identifying sticky users, improving time to value, and designing free plans and workflows that convert better. Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro to Churn 00:01:36 - What Churn Actually Means 00:04:15 - G...

Yasir, CEO and solo founder of Chatbase, joins Saba and Charlie on the Napkin Math podcast to break down how he bootstrapped an AI customer support platform from a PDF chatbot side project to $10M ARR in just 3 years — starting before ChatGPT even launched. He shares the real story behind going viral, hitting $1M ARR in 4 months, the chaos of early growth, why he stayed bootstrapped, and how he th...

A founder's stolen app, AI image gold rushes, and why London might just be the next Silicon Valley — all on the back of a napkin. Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 00:41 - The stolen app story 08:54 - Lessons from the App Store 11:36 - Vibe shuffles & business opportunities 20:00 - Vibe coding education 24:36 - ChatGPT image model 28:31 - AI designer niches 37:36 - Cursor's $60B acquisition 40:57 - Lo...

Saba and Charlie break down the $6.8 trillion wellness industry — period tracking, peptides, air quality, and sleep tech — then pivot to how the best founders (Dario Amodei, Brian Armstrong, Reed Hastings, Elon Musk) spotted emerging markets before anyone else. They close with a hot take on Anthropic's rumoured vibe coding platform and what it means for Lovable and Replit. Timestamps: 00:00 - Intr...

How Lego nearly went bankrupt by losing sight of its core product  and what it teaches us about culture, focus, and CEO decisions. Plus, a breakdown of Anthropic's jaw-dropping $30B run rate and what's fuelling it. Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 02:04 - Lego deep dive - origin, near-bankruptcy & recovery lessons 19:15 - The "wrong CEO" trap & staying focused as you scale 34:49 - Anthropic cultu...

Sabba and Charlie are back with a packed episode spanning alternative asset classes, the growing wave of security vulnerabilities in vibe-coded software, and a deep dive into what it really means for Anthropic to be "winning enterprise." They also break down the accidental Claude Code source map leak, debate whether angel investing is just an expensive hobby, and uncover a surprisingly massive opp...

This week Charlie and Saba dig into $1M app ideas hiding in boomer hobbies, why OpenAI killed Sora and what it says about focus, and how to hire the most talented people. Saba's joining remotely from Sicily 🇮🇹, commitment to the pod is real. Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 01:02 - $1M Boomer App Ideas 18:48 - OpenAI Shuts Down Sora 24:39 - The Importance of Focus 34:25 - How to Hire Talented People 45:3...

Sabba and Charlie cover how to build AI products in 2026 with Sabba's MAGIC Framework, why Threads might be the most underrated marketing channel, the big lie about competition, and how AI is giving content creators new ways to extend their work. Timestamps: 00:52 - First hate mail, we're famous now 02:01 - Why Sabba tore up the entire Q2 roadmap 06:32 - The MAGIC Framework, building AI products i...

Saba and Charlie introduce the BROTH framework for finding validated startup ideas, dive into the Open Claw (AI agents) hype, break down Bending Spoons' private equity playbook, and celebrate the London Maxing movement, plus debate whether Charlie invented vibe coding. Timecodes: 00:00 - Intro 00:38 - The BROTH Framework, how to find pre-validated startup ideas 25:06 - Competitive positioning stra...

Saba and Charlie do napkin math on the Cal AI acquisition by MyFitnessPal, share two must-do growth strategies for 2026 (API-first and Social SEO), and break down how Intercom bet the whole company on AI and won. Timecodes: 00:00 – Intro 00:33 – Cal AI Acquisition Breakdown 19:20 – Growth Strategy #1: Go API-First 29:33 – Growth Strategy #2: Social SEO 36:46 – How Intercom Saved Itself with AI 44:...

From an $8M exit to building it all again, Tibo is one of the most unique SaaS builders we’ve met. In this episode, we unpack his regrets after selling, the exact playbook behind his $1M/month portfolio, how he stays viral on X, and what building in the AI era really looks like, all while balancing life as a dad.  00:00 Intro & the $8M exit reality 02:07 $1M/month portfolio breakdown 06:15 Bui...

We kick things off with B2B SaaS lessons learned from Valentine's Day (yes, really), then spiral into whether the OpenClaw acquisition just produced the world's first one-person billion dollar company and whether Peter Steinberger is the most underrated engineer alive. From there we get into why most SaaS companies are failing at AI, the rise of API-first and agent-first products, and why the stab...

This week we’re unpacking the $70M AI.com move, Anthropic taking shots at OpenAI, the rise of agent wrappers, and a quiet $1M solo app no one’s talking about. Timestamps: 00:00 – The $70M AI.com Sale 03:10 – The $15M Super Bowl Bet: Does the Math Work? 10:10 – Charlie's Recent Domain Purchase & Do Dot Coms Matter? 18:54 – Getting Scammed by Joe Exotic (B2B SaaS Lessons) 24:32 – The Rise of Age...

The Napkin Math duo is back with another episode.  We spend most of this one trying to make sense of AI agents, OpenClaw - the new kid on the block, and why this wave feels messier but more real than the last few.  We talk through hype vs reality, what agents can actually do today, and how work is quietly shifting from roles and seats to tasks and systems. We also discuss AI fluency levels, how pe...

The duo is back with another episode, and this time we’ve got a guest. Jonny Burger, founder of Remotion, joins us after accidentally pulling 14M+ views overnight on X. We chat about vibe coding, prompting motion graphics with Claude, and why building with AI feels different right now. We also get into how Jonny handled the sudden attention, the noise, and acquisition offers that followed. Timesta...

We have some news!!! Napkin Math Podcast is now live on YouTube. The episode starts with a life update (Sabba’s new baby) and somehow turns childbirth into actual B2B SaaS lessons. From there, it spirals into whether Peter Thiel is really a billionaire, why Claude feels like another GPT-4 moment, and how vibe coding is accelerating the rise of one-person companies. It then breaks down Meta’s Manus...

Sabba and Charlie are back for a special Christmas episode. A 2-hour deep dive split into two parts. In the first, the chaps dive into the $100M ARR frenzy across AI startups, break down the Claude Opus 4.5 release, and debate the escalating LLM wars between Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic. They also discuss Sergey Brin’s return to Google, the opportunity emerging around the ChatGPT App Store, and w...

After a mini hiatus the boys are back with a banger. 5 startup idea frameworks you can use to start the next unicorn or profitable bootstrapped business. Plus, they inadvertently start the Ben Tossell fan club, and talk about making the UK rich again. 00:00 Napkin Math - Startup Idea Frameworks 01:43 Startup idea framework 1 - copy your competitors 06:23 Framework 2 - build an indirect competitor...

After spending weeks in hospital with a broken leg, Charlie has had plenty of time to think about B2B SaaS lessons for the pod, and he delivers. The chaps also chat about VEED's new CTO hire, their Fabric 1.0 launch and brainstorm existing businesses that could inject AI to get to $100m quickly. Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 02:07 B2B SaaS lessons from breaking your leg 19:50 Why VEED hired a new CTO 25...

Today Sabba and Charlie break down the Figma IPO and speculate on which company will be the next Figma. They question whether the chat interface for AI is outdated, and debate if DeepMind might be the greatest acquisition of all time, plus who’s most likely to win the AGI race. They also dig into the UK’s online safety act, why VPNs are booming, and wrap up with a very cheeky “recording blocker” s...